The story of this place
Retaken from the Moors in 1229, Cáceres grew rich when its noble families returned from the conquest of the Americas laden with silver, raising a forest of fortified stone mansions and towers within Almohad-era walls. Rival clans built such tall defensive towers that Queen Isabella eventually ordered many lopped off to curb their power. So little has changed since the 15th and 16th centuries that the old town has almost no modern intrusions—no wires, no signs—making it a favourite film set, standing in for King's Landing and Dorne in 'Game of Thrones' and for 18th-century Rome elsewhere. Storks nest atop its towers, and at night the lamplit lanes feel frozen in time.